Sixteen troops aligned with Yemen's internationally recognised government were killed and 22 were wounded in clashes with Houthi forces in Hodeidah governorate, according to officials and medical sources cited in reporting from the Red Sea coast.
Walid al-Qudaimi, a minister of state and cabinet member aligned with the government, said the dead soldiers came from the Tihama region and were killed in fighting around Jabal Dabbas. Hospitals in the area received 16 bodies and treated 22 wounded members of the pro-government forces, medical sources told AFP.
A government-aligned officer in the area said Houthi forces began their attack late on Friday and briefly captured positions held by their opponents. Pro-government units then counterattacked and had regained the sites by dawn on Saturday, according to the officer's account. A second military official also said the assault was repelled after several hours of combat.
The first officer said snipers caused most of the casualties among the government troops before Houthi forces used drones and mortar fire. These battlefield details came from unnamed military sources and could not be independently confirmed in the initial reporting.
Officials said the Houthis also sustained casualties, but they did not provide a verified figure. Neither the medical sources nor the military officials gave a breakdown of Houthi dead and wounded, leaving the group’s losses still unknown.
The violence represented a sharp escalation along a front that has been comparatively static. The Houthis have fought the internationally recognised government since 2015. They control Sanaa, the national capital, as well as much of northern Yemen and the port city of Hodeidah. The government is based in Aden and holds substantial territory in the south.
A United Nations-brokered truce in 2022 largely froze the main front lines, although intermittent fighting continued. The latest battle was described by one officer as the deadliest Houthi attack in years, an assessment that reflects the report's account rather than an independently established comparison.
The clashes also came after Houthi threats against airports and other important facilities in Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen's government. The deaths in Jabal Dabbas show that even without a broad return to nationwide ground warfare, local engagements can still produce heavy military casualties and test the durability of the relative calm established after the 2022 truce. Because hospitals reported only casualties from the government-aligned side, the available figures cannot establish total losses from the battle. The verified toll is therefore 16 pro-government troops dead and 22 wounded, while any number for Houthi deaths remains unknown.
